Cherish me
by PourMeACupOfGalaxy
Summary: Arthur and Merlin are pure opposites. Arthur practically owns the school, Merlins there on scholarship. But what happens when they find out opposites really do attract?
1. Enemies

A tall lanky boy stands in front of a building, this building happens to be his school, his new school to be specific. He sighs as he shuffles his schedule around in his hands, attempting to further stall his entrance. He gives up and walks into what is now his new home. He is a transfer student to Camelot High School, the most prestigious boarding school in Great Britain. He trudges up the steps and proceeds to fall flat on his face, slamming into the person in front of him, much to said prsons discontempt.

h"Cleanup on aisle nerd." One of the boys shouts, making all the people around him laugh. The lanky boy went rather red and attempted to pick himself up, failing only because of a blonde haired boy pushing him down again. "What are you doing, dork?" The blonde haired boy laughed evilly, kicking the boy down again. A sharp pain shot through the dark haired boys stomach as it was kicked. Over. And over. And over again. He heard some yelling as the crowd parted and an old man pulled him to his feet. The boy stumbled a bit and felt himself being led down the hall as the crowd jeered angrily. He was lain on one of the many cots in what his spinning head recognized as the infirmary. He lay down and fell asleep almost immediately, though perhaps it could be better described as fainting.

The boy wakes up to the setting son and an old man watching him. He sits up abruptly, only to be met by a bad headache. "Careful there lad, you took quite the beating." The old man gestures to the boy, who then noticed he was shirtless. He looked down, seeing shoe shaped bruising along his ribs and stomach. "What was your name again?" The old man asked, turning to face the boy once more. "Merlin." The boy said, attempting to stand. He stumbled a bit before straightening up and looking around for his shirt. "Be careful out there boy, you got a bullseye on your back now." The old man chuckled slightly, before standing and pushing open the door to the infirmary. "Come back if you need anything, my name is Gaius, and Merlin, _please _be careful." Merlin thanked the man and stepped out into the hall.

As Merlin found his dorm he sighed softly, _finally some peace_, he thought as he turned the knob. His heart plummeted through his chest as he saw his new roommate. "Oh no, not this nerd, I did not get this nerd as my fucking roommate." The blonde boy from earlier. In your room, laying on one of two beds, with his stuff set up in one half of the room. Merlin sighed, walking, more like trudging, over to his new bed. "Oh come on dork, don't you speak? Don't tell me you're a freak as well as a dork." The blonde boy stood up and sauntered over to the other. "Here, since you _apparently _have no social skills, i'll start. My name is Arthur. Now, you tell me your name." He said, speaking slowly, as if talking to a disabled child. Merlin spun on his heel and faced his new roommate. "My name is Merlin, I'm _not _a dork _or _a freak, and I'm not exactly _thrilled_ to be your new roommate either." He hissed, walking over to his dresser and stuffing a few shirts in some miscellaneous drawer, trying to calm himself down.

Arthur raised his eyebrows and looked at Merlins backpack, his only bag. "Is this your _only bag?_" He asked incredulously, sitting down on Merlins bed. "Why does that matter?" Merlin snapped, blushing a deep red. Arthur shrugged, "Whatever you say, _freak._" Merlin glowered, "I am not a freak, _prat._" He practically spat. Arthur stood up and stepped slightly closer. "What did you just call me?" He growled. "I called you a prat, would you like a definition?" Merlin sighed exasperatedly. Arthur grabbed Merlin by the shirt collar, pushing him up against the wall. "Would you like to stop breathing?" Merlin gulped, attempting to wriggle free from Arthurs grip. "Who do you think you are, the bloody headmaster?" He snarled, spitting in Arthurs face. The taller boy stumbled backwards, wiping his face. "No." He smiled evilly. "I'm his son."


	2. A mango kinda guy

**Um hi hello yes. I am amazed at the reviews and support this story has gotten, with only one chapter and all. Thank you to all of you who favorited and reviewed this story ! Seriously you are great and wowie just thank you *internet hugs* *unless of course you do not liked being hugged then you get a thumbs up and are still appreciated just as much***

As Merlin fell asleep that night he assessed his situation. He got stuck with a prat for a roommate, some bruised ribs before he even spoke a word, and he forgot to eat dinner after his argument with Arthur, which ended in Arthur pushing Merlin to the ground and angrily stomping away. But, as he drifted off to sleep, Merlin couldn't stop picturing a certain strong jawline and floppy blonde hair.

When Merlin awoke the next morning, he gasped at the clock next to him, he had overslept, a lot. As he rushed to get his things together, he remembered something. "Arthur!" He yelled, stuffing his books into his bag. "Wheres my key?"

The taller of the two boys shrugged. "We only got one key, and its mine."

Merlin glared at the blonde. "Well how in the bloody hell am I supposed to get into the room?"

"I don't know, come by the gym after school, wait through my fencing practice, then we go back together." Arthur sighed exasperatedly.

"You could just give me the key before your practice you know." Merlin said, turning the door knob.

"But then it wouldn't be hard for you." Arthur said as he pushed the brunette aside and walked out.

Merlin huffed, a soft tingly feeling in his shoulder where Arthur had pushed him. Not a bad tingly, like, a fuzzy feeling, a happy feeling. Merlin shook his head and sighed. _I'm just tired. _Merlin thought, closing the door behind him. _Thats all this is, i'm tired. _He cursed under his breath as the morning sun hit his eyes, blinding him momentarily. He stumbled into his first class and through the rest of the day, and by the end of the day, it was all a hazy blur.

The next day Merlin hurried out of the dorm before Arthur could utter an insult. He hurried to his first class, which today was biology. He sat down and sighed heavily, _why was I in such a rush today? Why couldn't I face Arthur? _Merlin shook his head, pushing the thoughts to the back of his mind. "Is this seat taken?" Merlin turned to see a pretty girl with curly hair standing next to him, gesturing to the seat beside him.

"Oh! Erm, no, not at all! Sit, please!" Merlin stammered, partially out of social awkwardness and partially out of the fact he wasn't sure if he had been speaking allowed moments earlier.

The girl chuckled softly, pushing some curls behind her ear before sitting beside him. "My name is Gwenivere, though most people call me Gwen around here." She said, turning to Merlin absently, attempting to make small talk while they waited for class to begin.

"Merlin, I'm Merlin. Merlin. That is, thats me." Merlin faltered slightly, blushing fairly red.

Gwen giggled slightly. "Nice to meet you Merlin." Merlin chuckled slightly, and they talked about their mutual interests until the bell rang for class to start.

The period went smoothly, as did all of Merlins morning classes. When lunch came, Merlin found solace at an empty table and soon found himself joined by Gwen, who had noticed him sitting alone and didn't "want him to be lonely." As she put it. The lunchroom was just getting crowded when a group of girls took the stage, which was a large, raised, circular platform in the center of the cafeteria.

"Attention, ladies and gentlemen of Camelot High!" A dark haired girl had turned on the microphone and was now, evidently, speaking into it, with a fake peppiness so sugared that Merlin got a cavity just hearing it.

"As captain of the Camelot High Cheerleading Squad and head of the Welcoming Committee, I just wanted to personally welcome you to another wonderful year at Camelot High!" The brunette was dressed in what Merlin now recognized as a cheerleading uniform, and her associates were waving red and gold pom poms around merrily.

"My name is Morgana, and if you need anything, just come talk to me. So yeah, Go Knights!" She cheered, jumping slightly. Everyone clapped lightly and immediately went back to eating or talking or whatever.

Merlin continued to watch the group of girls, or as everyone knew them, "The Queens."

As soon as Morgana got offstage, her expression changed to one of that of disgust. She laughed with another blonde girl at something a third girl said, pointing to a girls outfit. Merlin shook his head. This is just like all the movies he watched as a kid,and thats just sad.

As the lunch hour was ending, Merlin was approached by Morgana and the blonde girl he saw earlier. "Hello! I'm Morgana, and this is Morgause. You're the new kid, right?" Morgana smiled widely, flipping her long dark hair over her shoulder.

"Yeah. I'm sorry, I was just leaving. If you could just move so I could be on my way I would greatly appreciate it." Merlin shrugged, attempting to push past the girls. Morgause stopped him, pushing him backwards.

"We just wanted to let you know that if you need anything, ask us." Morgause said, shifting her weight into a defensive stance.

"I heard. You did a whole thing on the stage." Merlin stepped back slightly, noticing the crowd forming around them.

"Oh really? Morgause, you owe me money. He apparently _isn't _as deaf as he is stupid." Morgana sneered, crossing her arms across her chest.

Merlin attempted to exit the scene, only to be pushed back into the circle by some bystanders. "Look, I'm going to be late, if you and your self centered friend could let me pass, that would be great." Merlin huffed, readjusting his bag on his shoulder.

"Are you calling me shallow?" Morgause semi-screeched, stepping towards Merlin.

"Well, if I could stand in a puddle of you and not get wet, then yeah." Merlin said angrily, attempting to push his way out of the circle once more.

Morgana smiled, walking over to one of the bystanders in the circle and grabbing the smoothie out of their hands. "Okay, thats enough. Let him pass." Morgana cleared an exit for Merlin, who foolishly took it. Morgana tripped him and proceeded to dump the contents of the smoothie on his head. "Oopsie! My bad, maybe next time you should watch who you step to." Morgana smiled fakely, turning on her heel and sashaying out of the Lunchroom, Morgause closely following behind.

The crowd cleared and Merlin wiped smoothie from his eyes and face. Gwen rushed over to him, offering napkins and muttered swears at the cheer team. Arthur sauntered over, chuckling softly. "Wow. Just, wow."

Merlin blushed a deep red. "Oh shut up."

Gwen stood, staring at Arthur. "Oh! H-hello Arthur."

Arthur looked at Gwen and smiled. "Oh! Gwenevere, isn't it? I'm sorry you got stuck cleaning up this idiot, you should be heading to class? Don't worry, I'll take care of him."

Gwen blushed redder than Merlin. "Y-yeah okay. B-b-bye Arthur!" Gwen said before hurrying to her next class, glancing back at Arthur every ten feet.

Merlin wiped the rest of the smoothie off his face as Arthur pulled up a chair. "Tell me what happened, the whole story." Arthur said with a small smirk.

As Merlin told the story, Arthurs grin got bigger and bigger, and by the end of the story he was laughing so hard he was near tears. "Well, I can't say you didn't deserve that."

Merlin glared at the blonde. "Shut up."

Arthur looked indignant, "Well its true! You sassed _Morgana,_ captain of the cheer squad, welcoming committee, and Vice President of student council. What Did you think would happen?"

Merlin huffed "I didn't think it through, it just kinda happened"

Arthur stood up. "And thats your problem, isn't it Merlin? You go into everything strong headed and ignorant and you end up like this, blaming the other party. You need to grow up." Arthur said, not in a lectury voice, but as if it was a fact, something that only Merlin was oblivious to. Arthur turned and headed for the door. "Oh, and Merlin? Strawberry doesn't suit you." He said, walking out into the hall. "I always pegged you as a Mango kinda guy."

And so he left Merlin staring after him, the conversation running through his head on loop, for what Merlin hoped would be the last time.


	3. Nothing at all

**hello! i'm so sorry this chapter is so late, and very short as well ~ writers block hit me hard and i just don't have much motivation to do well, anything these days. so heres a little filler, and i swear there will be another chapter up soon !**

Merlin sat on his bed, doing his English homework when Arthur kicked open the door in a huff, muttering angrily. He slammed his stuff down on his desk and paced about the room, still muttering to himself.

"Er, are you okay?" Merlin didn't really know what to say, he would probably say "Good!" If Arthur responded that he wasn't, but it seemed cruel not to ask.

"I don't know, you're the one pacing the room like a madman!" Arthur snapped, throwing his hands in the air. Merlin stood up and stepped a bit closer to the blonde, "Actually, thats you." He said, placing his hand on the other boys shoulder and leading him to a desk chair.

Arthur sat down and held his head in his hands

"Seriously, you okay? I mean, you're pacing madly, which indicates high stress levels, so is it the amount of homework? I know its insane but if you just take it one step at a ti-"

"Shut up! Just shut up if you don't have something important to say, your voice is like a drill cranking between my eyes." Arthur yelled, and Merlin finally got a good look at him.

He had bags under his eyes that almost made him look like he had two black eyes, his hair was uncombed and disheveled, and his school shirt, which was usually pressed and bright white, was looking as rumpled and manky as Merlins.

"Go take a nap." Merlin said, turning back to his homework.

"I can't, I have homework." Arthur sighed and turned to his desk.

Merlin grabbed the desk chair Arthur was sitting in and pushed it towards Arthurs bed. "Sleep, I'll take care of it."

Arthur looked at Merlin in disbelief. "Seriously?"

Merlin shrugged. "I mean, I'm in all your AP classes, and I can figure out the rest. It shouldn't take me too long, and you look like death."

Arthur scowled as he climbed into bed. "I would return the compliment, but I wouldn't want to insult death."

Merlin rolled his eyes and turned back to his homework.

"But Merlin?" Arthur said, stifling a yawn. "Thank you."

And by the time Merlin looked up, he was already falling asleep.

Arthur woke up sweating. He looked over at the clock which read 1:45 A.M. He tried to remember what woke him up, but all he could see was his fathers disappointed face.

"You okay?" Arthur whipped around to see Merlin still sitting on his bed, with papers and books around him.

"Yeah, yeah. Just, yeah. Are you still doing homework?" Arthur sat up fully, his eyes adjusting to the semi darkness.

Merlin shrugged. "Yeah, this AP History stuff is fascinating, isn't it?" Arthur felt a small pang of guilt. "Don't you sleep?" He asked, swinging his feet over the side of the bed.

"I do, not much, but I do." Merlin shrugged again.

Everything was silent for a minute. "Thats the fourth time this week, you know." Merlin said, not looking up.

Arthur blushed slightly. "Excuse me?"

"The fourth time this week you woke up shaking and sweating." Merlin said, as if he was talking about the weather.

Arthur went red. "I don't see how its any of your business, I don't know you very well by any standards and I don't know if i want to! Its very weird for you to be meddling in my business like thi-"

"Oh shut up. You act like I'll tell people. And i'm not begging to have a feelings session with you, I just thought you should know. Forgive me for trying to be nice." Merlin huffed, glaring at the blonde.

Arthur bowed his head. "You're right, i'm sorry." He said as he got up and sat down next to the other boy. "Here, let me help."

Merlin pushed him off. "Just go back to bed."

Arthur shook his head. "No. I am not letting you do all of the work." Merlin sighed and passed Arthur some Biology worksheets he had yet to do.

They worked in a comfortable silence until Merlin eventually fell asleep in an uncomfortable looking position with his head on a book. Arthur looked at the boy next to him and moved him into a more comfortable position with his head on Arthur's knee, pulling a blanket over him as well.

As Arthur continued to work, he lazily ran his fingers through Merlins short hair, chuckling at the fact that Merlin mumbles in his sleep.

_They sound kinda like incantations or something._

Arthur smiled, a soft blush spreading across his cheeks. He shook his head as he realized what he was doing.

_Hes Merlin, hes stupid and irritating. Why is he making me smile? He isn't. Whats he doing? Nothing, absolutely nothing. _Arthur thought as he stood up, lifting Merlins head off of his knee.

_Nothing, thats what hes doing, you're tired Arthur, go to bed. _He thought as he climbed into bed, turning onto his side.

_He is nothing at all._


	4. Fencing and Freya

**haha i feel like i should apologize for this shit in advance ^^; i have 0 motivation and 0 ideas so i just kinda threw this together. so this is chapter four i guess, alternately titled: in which merlin gays a little bit.**

**( also ! i wanted to try something a little bit different with the chapter formatting, so please leave your opinion in the reviews ! )**

Merlin sighed, staring out the window of his 7th period mathematics class. The window faced nothing but a parking lot, empty save for a pigeon eating a leftover sandwich. He was bored out of his mind. The school wouldn't allow him to take senior level calculus, saying it would be "an odd transition" considering he's only a Sophomore and this is his first year at Camelot. Merlin has no idea why that affects anything, but he complied so he wouldn't lose his scholarship.

He turned his attention to the people around him, looking for a distraction. Next to him was his longtime friend Freya, a girl from his old high school who had also received a scholarship, though she was much better in the E.L.A (English language arts) department, while Merlin excelled in Math and Sciences. Two rows ahead of him sat Arthur, who was casually twirling a pencil between his fingers. His blonde hair extended to a point at the back of his neck which was near always flipped up or was just not flat in general. Merlin just wished he could pet it downwards. And speaking of his neck, the tan of his skin faded into an almost imperceptibly lighter shade as it neared his face, and the there were a few freckles on the back of his neck that Merlin swore spelled out "No". He could see the muscles of his back flexing as he twirled the pencil, pressing through the thin white fabric of his school shirt.

Merlin felt a nudge on his arm and saw a small note Freya had passed to him.

_why are you staring at pendragon so intently? _

Freya wiggled her eyebrows suggestively, and Merlin smacked her arm and glared at her.

_What are you talking about?_

_you've been staring at him for like 20 minutes class is almost over._

_Liar._

_check the clock yourself, then! _Freya scribbled, crossing her arms smugly. Merlin checked his watch and sure enough, class had 5 minutes left.

_That proves nothing. _Merlin huffed softly.

_suuuuuure..._

_What are saying?_

_well... you talk about him a lot, you stare at him more, whats a girl to assume? _

_Are you implying that I am gay for Arthur Pendragon. _Merlin scribbled furiously, a blush spreading to his cheeks

_not in the slightest! bisexual however, thats another story... _

She slid the note to him just as the bell rang, leaving Merlin sitting there blushing like a fool. He stood up and hurried out of the classroom, not wanting to be late to 8th period. As he settled into his English class he contemplated Freya's point. He had never been opposed to the idea he was bi, he was raised to be accepting and open to all ideas and beliefs, but Arthur? He has no reason to like the guy. He could be selfish and arrogant, but he was nothing if not chivalrous. And he wasn't bad looking, anyone with a brain could see that, gay or no. But as Merlin focused his attention to the powerpoint shown on the board, he couldn't get that rare smile and deep, crinkled blue eyes out of his head.

Arthur exited his final class of the day and headed straight for the gym. He loved every second he got to spend in the gym. With light oak floors and high vaulted ceilings with skylights that filtered in just the right amount of sunlight to make it so on most days, no additional light source was needed. He changed into his fencing uniform quickly and hurried out into the gym to warm up. As he walked out into the main gym he saw Merlin and some girl enter the gym. His stomach clenched when he saw the girl laugh at something he said and hit him playfully on the arm. It clenched tighter when he saw her lead him up onto the bleachers by the hand and them sit next to each other, so close they could whisper to each other and not have to crane to hear the other. He felt a tightness in his chest that he had never felt beforeg that he couldn't describe.

He turned on his heel and shook his head.

_I'm just surprised he has friends, thats all. He just doesn't seem like the type to have friends. He just startled me, thats it. _Arthur thought, putting on his helmet and walking over to one of the dummys.

He swung at it full force, putting all his force behind each blow. After spearing through the dummy a number of times he looked out of the corner of his eye to see Merlin seemingly entranced by his performance. He felt a strange sense of pride that made him feel like he was floating. He shook his head again and turned to face his coach and soon got lost in the practice, but still unable to shake that sense of floating.

As Merlin and Freya sat up on the bleachers and did their collective homework, Merlin couldn't bring himself to focus on his classwork. He couldn't drive this whole "bisexual" thing out of his head. What if he really did like Arthur? What if this wasn't just a one-sided thing? Arthur had been acting strange last night, and Merlin had this vague memory of Arthur running his hands through his hair, but he chalked that up to a dream. (Though he wouldn't admit to anyone he had been dreaming about another guy, much less Arthur Pendragon.)

He put his head in his hands and sighed. "Freya put her hand on his back and rubbed up and down gently. "Long day?" She asked tenderly, and Merlin nodded. Freya clucked her tongue. "Oh hon, you really need to catch up on your sleep." Merlin sighed, he really did. He was already sleeping through 90% of the weekend, and even that wasn't enough to get him through the week anymore. He rubbed sleep out of his eyes and sat up. According to his watch and the fencing schedule, practice ended in another hour. The team was on break now, digging water bottles out of their bags and joking around with the other team members. Merlin sighed, there was no way in hell he was sitting through another whole hour of watching fencing. He got up and walked over to Arthur, fighting a yawn.

"Oi. Pendragon. Give me the room key." Merlin said, thumping Arthur on the arm.

"No. why?" Arthur said, taking a long drink of water.

"There is no way I am sitting through another hour of this." Merlin said, crossing his arms.

Arthur sighed and dug it out of his bag. "Don't lose it, keep the room unlocked, don't have people over, and if you do, no sex on my bed."

Merlin blushed pink and rolled his eyes. "You sound like my mother." He mumbled, snatching the key from the blonde boy.

Arthur huffed "Forgive me for not wanting strangers creeping through my stuff and cumming on my bed." He said, turning his back on Merlin.

Merlin muttered something about how big of a prat he was and walked away. Arthur turned back and pretended to rummage through his bag, stealing glances at the brunette. He felt his stomach drop when he saw Merlin leave with the same girl he had entered with, arms intertwined, laughing at something one of them had said. He white knuckled his water bottle and turned away angrily, his stomach still in an uncomfortable knot he had no explanation for.

When Arthur got back to his dorm later that evening, he saw Merlin working at his desk on what Arthur assumed was homework. Merlin gave a nod of acknowledgement before returning to his work. Arthur set his stuff down and stopped for a minute, a question tugging at his mind. He cleared his throat and tried to ask as nonchalantly as possible.

"So whos that girl you were with?"

It took Merlin a moment to respond. "Freya, shes an old friend."

"You two dating?"

It took Merlin a moment to answer again. "We dated at one point, it didn't work out so we just stayed friends."

It took all of Arthurs effort to suppress "Good!" From sailing out of his mouth and he wasn't exactly sure why.

**i suppose arthur gayed a little in this chapter as well... but who's complaining, right?**


	5. Just Forget It

**aaaaaaaaaaaaaah my motivation has appeared for once so um here !**

After a few weeks of school, waiting for Arthur had become routine. Merlin sits in the bleachers everyday and starts his homework as Arthur fences. Merlin had learned quite a bit during fencing practices, including 2 new swears, how to calculate the angle of a trapezoid without a ruler, and that Cenred is an ass. Apparently some kid on the fencing team named Cenred has been after Arthurs position of captain on the team, and would do anything to fuck with Arthur. Constantly talking trash about him, creating all sorts of problems. But it never really worked. People practically worshipped the ground Arthur walked on, and for good reason. Arthur was popular not out of others fear, but because he was a genuinely good person. And Merlin hated it. He knew Arthur was an arrogant ass but he was also chivalrous and kind and just but he was headstrong and stupid but he was still attractive but horrible. He hated how Arthur could get under his skin and irk him so much but still be so infatuated with the guy. It was confusing and stupid and Merlin was irritable because of it.

When he sat down in the lunchroom next to Freya he put his head on the table and groaned, tuning out of the conversation she was trying to make. He sighed, he shouldn't let this stupid thing with Arthur get in the way of his happiness. He attempted to tune back into the conversation, convincing himself it was just a silly little thing and it would pass.

"-ever, and he was wearing this stupid sincere grin on his face that he uses with everybody. Like, we get it Arthur, you're a happy-"

"Can we talk about something else?" Merlin cut in, shuffling his food around on his plate.

"I'm not the one with the giant crush on him." Freya teased, putting her chin in her hands, studying Merlin, who ducked his head and blushed. Freya smacked the table with both of her hands "YOU DO HAVE A CRUSH, DON'T YOU!" She screeched.

"A little louder, I don't think they heard you in the back." Merlin hissed.

Just then, Arthur walked into the Caf, followed by the usual mob of girls and some of his friends who Merlin recognized from the fencing team. Merlin couldn't help but stare at the way Arthurs cheeks turned up as he laughed, the way a smile seemed to envelop his whole face, the way his eyes nearly sparkled with mirth, the way his hair moved as he turned to face his friends, the way his lips looked so kissable and soft, despite being so masculine.

As he turned back to Freya she shook her head."You got it bad, don't you?" She said, crossing her arms smugly.

Merlin groaned and slammed his head on the table. Yes. Yes he did. He wouldn't really admit it though. Though he wouldn't admit it if it was a matter of life or death at this point.

He slung his backpack over his and made his way to his next class, muttering angrily. He was almost out the door when he felt himself get slammed into and knocked into a wall. "OH SHIT!" He yelled as his stuff went flying. He picked himself up off the ground in what he considered to be record time to try to avoid the awkward "I'm so so sorry!"'s. But he wasn't fast enough. A broad shouldered guy with shaggy dark hair was helping him gather up his things before Merlin knew what was happening.

"Hey, sorry about that, my fault mate, my fault." The guy said offering Merlin his hand. "I'm Gwaine."

Merlin shook his hand before readjusting his backpack. "I'm Merlin." The boys exited the lunchroom, talking about the school load and such before heading off to their respective next period.

Merlin had study hall, as soon as he got in he found a seat in the back and opened up his notebook. He got lost in his calculations, trying to make a home sleep remedy that would actually work, and he had to be shaken abruptly to be woken out of his haze of work.

"Merlin!" Gwaine said, sitting down next to him. "I didn't know you were in this class!"

Merlin shrugged, not many people did. He was quiet, and he often buried himself in his work. Merlin put his notebook away and decided that he should make a new friend. Its not like it was work, he had a lot in common with Gwaine, though Gwaine was definitely more of an adventure seeker. The two of them were fast friends, and by the end of study hall Gwaine was added to the posse. (The posse being only him, Freya and Gwen.)

And so Merlin went about his day, sitting through the entirety of Arthurs fencing practice working on homework.

After practice when Arthur and Merlin were quarreling about something stupid in the bleachers Cenred came up behind Merlin and pulled him into his lap.

"Hello there, what's your name, darling?" He whispered seductively into the smaller boys ear. Merlin immediately tensed up at the feeling of hot breath on his neck.

Cenred placed his hand on Merlin's thigh and squeezed slightly. "What do you say we take this to the locker room, hm?"

Merlin (involuntarily) whimpered in fear, attempting to pull away from the other boy. He felt himself fall to the ground as he heard a loud thump. He looked up to see Cenred pinned against the wall by Arthur.

"Never. Again." Arthur practically growled. He nearly threw Cenred aside as he pulled Merlin up from the ground. "Are you okay?" He asked, a flash of worry in his eyes. Merlin looked away, his hands shaking.

"I'm fine." He whispered, his voice cracking as he pushed Arthur away, exiting the gym quickly, words getting washed around in his ears.

"_Got a nice boy toy Arthur?" _

_"Shut the hell up." _

_"Whats going on?" _

_"Yeah Arthur, where'd your little friend go?"_

Merlin stumbled into the bathroom, tears blurring his vision. He locked the door to the handicap stall and slumped against the wall, breathing heavily.

_Do not cry. _

_Do not cry. _

_Do not fucking cry. _

_Do not- _

_you fucking wimp_.

Tears streamed down his face. Merlin clawed them all away angrily, rubbing at his eyes roughly. He heard a soft knock on the bathroom door.

"Merlin? Open up."

_Arthur. _

There was a long pause. "Please?"

Merlin stood and unlocked the door, quickly turning away from the blonde boy. Arthur grabbed Merlin by the arm and enveloped him in a hug. It wasn't bone crushing, and it wasn't limp and lifeless either. He felt the electricity crackling through Arthurs veins, and thats when the tears started to fall again. Fast, hard, and silent, Merlin cried. Arthur held Merlin tightly, burying his face in the boys hair. Eventually, Merlin stopped crying, but they just stayed like that, close to each other, connected. And for reasons neither of them could explain, it felt like home.

Merlin pulled away hastily, going a deep red. "Just, just, forget it. Forget this. Forget all of this. Please." He said, stumbling backwards and exiting the bathroom.

Arthur started after him but stopped when he saw two people entering the bathroom, Lancelot and Leon, both on the fencing team.

"Hey, Arthur, you okay? You ran out after punching Cenred, what happened?" Lancelot asked, stepping forward and placing a hand on Arthur's shoulder.

"Yeah, are you alright?" Leon seconded, looking over Arthur cautiously.

"Yeah, I'm- y'know what? Just forget it, okay?" Arthur said, pushing past the two.

But they wouldn't, and neither would he.


	6. The First

**Hey! Sorry for the long break, i just have a lot of family and friend business going down and I just don't really know how soon the updates are going to come out from this moment on. Finals and stuff are happening soon and I have a lot of other emotional stuff going down, so, yeah. But on the other hand, summer is coming and that means updates should be fairly regular again, but I can't promise anything, as I'm running out of pre-written chapters. But anywho, thanks for sticking with me. Love you guys.**

Merlin sat at his desk, working through the weekend slog of homework. He sighed, Saturdays are supposed to be spent in sunlight, not bent over a desk with hours of work ahead of him. Of course, it wouldn't really have been hours if he could just focus. He couldn't stop reliving the crackle of electricity when Arthur hugged him, he couldn't stop getting lost in the memories of the warmth of Arthur's arms, the feeling of Arthurs face in his hair. He hadn't seen Arthur in a while, as he was normally just leaving for morning fencing practice when Merlin woke up. Many late night conversations with Freya had still done nothing to reassure him that he hadn't fucked the whole thing up. He was snapped out of his memories as he heard his phone chime with a message.

Group MS: Gwen, Merlin, Gwaine, Freya

Freya: hey guys! wanna go to lunch or something?

Merlin sighed. That girl is telepathic or something I swear.

Gwen: Sure! Is it okay if I bring a friend?

Freya: fine with me! merlin, you care to weigh in?

Merlin: Doesn't matter to me, go ahead.

Gwaine: SORRY CANT I HAVE A LOT OF HOMEWORK

Freya: what's with the caps?

Gwaine: DROPPED IT IN THE WOODS AND CAPS LOCK GOT STUCK AND I HAVENT GOTTEN AROUND TO FIXING IT YET.

Freya: ah, i see.

Freya: but anywho, i'll text the directions and stuff to you separately and such, see you soon!

Merlin sat up and stretched. He cracked his neck before his phone started frantically buzzing, an obnoxiously dubstep ringtone playing. Only one person had that ringtone, a ringtone so irritating it can't be ignored. Freya.

"Hel-"

"MerlinguesswhoGwenisbringingtolunchomgyouaregoingtofreakthefuckoutohmygod!" Freya screeched into his ear. Merlin held the phone away from his ear, wincing at the shrillness of the scream.

"Who?" Merlin asked after managing to calm Freya down.

"Arthur!" She squealed. Merlin's stomach dropped like it was thrown off a cliff. Arthur couldn't be coming, he isn't, Freya is playing with you.

"Haha very funny." Merlin stuttered, silently praying it was all a joke or a dream or something.

"I'm serious! He and Gwen are apparently very, very good friends." Freya said, seemingly slightly worried. "But I don't think there's anything between them, I secretly think Gwen wants there to be but that's just me of course so don't get yourself worked up over i-"

"Freya, I love you, but shut the hell up." Merlin snapped, rubbing at his brow. "Pick me up whenever, it's not like i'll be doing anything." Merlin ended the call and slumped back into his desk chair.

Great. Just great. He sighed as he got up and went into the bathroom, grabbing a bottle of advil from the cupboard and taking two to hopefully ease his forming headache. As he exited the bathroom he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror and for the first time today realized just how atrocious he looked. He was still in his pajamas and his hair looked like a tornado made of lawn mowers had ripped through it with the fury of a thousand dragons. He grimaced and brushed through his hair quickly, well, as quickly as one could tame lawn mower-tornado-dragon-fury, before brushing his teeth and walking over to his dresser to pull on some fresh clothes. He quickly pulled on a blue t-shirt and a pair of black jeans before sliding into a brown jacket. Well, not "a" brown jacket per say, rather "the" brown jacket. He wore it near everywhere, it was the only "real" jacket he owned. His phone buzzed with a message from Freya saying she was outside and he slid into his slightly (very) ratty converse and ran out the door.

As he slid into the passenger seat of Freya's old Ford Fiesta the reality of the situation hit him like a truck. He was going out to lunch with Arthur Pendragon. He paled slightly and shook his head.

"This isn't a good idea." He turned to unbuckle his seatbelt when Freya slammed the gas, lurching the car forward.

"I knew you would say that!" Freya laughed, turning towards her friend. "Merlin, you'll be fine! I'll be there, Gwen will be there, you'll be fine."

Merlin slumped into his seat, his head in his hands. Why does this bullshit always happen to me? He thought, groaning exasperatedly. He stayed like this for a while, Freya humming along to the radio and yelling at him periodically, rolling down the windows at one point to try and get a rise out of him.

"Merlin! Get up, you look sick. Or dead. Or something. Seriously we're almost there, snap out of it." Freya shouted over the radio, shaking him roughly. Merlin sat up and put his hands over his eyes. He huffed and straightened out his jacket and shirt, smoothing out his hair that had been blown around by the wind as they arrived at the restaurant. It wasn't anything special, a small diner on the outskirts of the next town over. He relaxed slightly, it wasn't important or high class or whatever, it was just a restaurant, a restaurant that he was going to for lunch. With Arthur fucking Pendragon.

Freya opened the passenger side door and helped him out of the car, squeezing his hand. "You'll be fine Merlin, just be yourself."

"But what if myself isn't good enough?" Merlin said, turning to her.

Freya smiled and squeezed his hand again. "Then he is a horrible judge of character and deserves an eternity alone."

Merlin nodded, not trusting himself to speak without vomiting. He was lucky to have Freya, she'd always been there for him, ever after their breakup. She had been there through the Will incident, through his magic phase, and through countless other times. He sighed and smiled at her before he let go of Freya's hand and they walked into the diner.

And he saw them, Gwen and Arthur, sitting in a booth, laughing and smiling. Gwen oogling at him when he wasn't looking and Arthur either oblivious or okay with it. And for the second time that day, Merlin's stomach dropped.

Freya gave him a reassuring look and dragged him towards them. "Hey guys!" She said brightly, sitting next to Gwen, leaving the seat next to Arthur for Merlin. He sat down and fiddled awkwardly for a few minutes until the waitress came for the drink orders. He wasn't really socially awkward, he could hold a conversation and could order for himself in a restaurant, but he didn't particularly enjoy it. He didn't hate crowds, he didn't dislike people in general, he would just much rather be in his room, aggressively making out with Arthur right now and he was trying not to show it.

After the drinks came and food was ordered, Freya made it a point to get Merlin into the conversation, and Merlin was grateful, until of course, Freya turned the conversation to romantic lives.

"So, Arthur. You got a lucky lady? Or an equally lucky man of course, we're a very accepting group of people." Freya said, taking a sip of her iced tea and raising her eyebrows.

"No, No lady." Arthur answered uncomfortably, staring into a spot over Gwen's shoulder.

"A man then?" Freya said casually.

That elicited a sputter from Arthur. "I am a straight man!"

"Oh it's alright dear, we're very accepting here, Merlin's kissed a guy before, you know." Freya countered, leaning forward.

Merlin blushed. "Wow, thanks for that. Because you should totally just go around telling people about that without my permission."

Arthur snorted. "Well, Merlin is a man of an odd breed."

Merlin whipped around to face him. "What's that supposed to mean? Am I some sort of freak?"

Arthur smirked. "Well you certainly aren't the manliest of men."

Merlin was furious. "Are you calling me a woman?"

Arthur shrugged, his mouth upturned in a smug grin.

Merlin stood up and dumped his water on Arthur's head, glaring. "Bite me." He snapped before stalking off.

Arthur stood there in shock for a moment before slamming his fist on the table and getting up and going after him. Gwen turned to Freya and sighed. "They are always chasing each other down, aren't they?"

Merlin stormed out of the restaurant, his vision blurred with anger. That stupid fucking prick I hate him so much why is he so stupid and perfect and I hate him god dammit that stupid fuckin pri-

"Merlin!" Arthur yelled, grabbing Merlin's wrist and pulling him around to face him.

"What do you want?" Merlin practically spat.

The blonde flinched slightly but held firmly onto Merlin's wrist. "You need to calm down."

Merlin laughed, a barking, cold laugh. "Weren't you ever told to never tell a woman to calm down? Don't you know that just makes her angrier? But what would you know? You're so fake everyone's afraid to befriend you, much less date you." He yelled. Arthur stepped back, obviously hurt.

"Look, I'm sorry okay? I didn't mean for it to be like tha-"

"Like what Arthur? You know what, just stay the hell away from me. You have done nothing but make my life hell from the day we met. Just get the fuck away from me and never come back!" Merlin screamed, tears catching in the corners of his eyes. He turned away, willing himself not to look back.

But if he had, he would have seen Arthur just standing there, staring after him, soaked near head to toe. He would have seen Arthur put the heels of his hands on his forehead and stare at the sky, trying not to burst into tears and not knowing why. He would have seen Gwen and Freya walk out of the restaurant whispering and worried, he would have seen Gwen trying to hug Arthur and Arthur pulling away. He would have seen Freya before she came up behind him and pulled him into a tight hug, murmuring apologies and reassurance. But if he had looked back, he probably wouldn't have been trying not to cry the whole drive home.


End file.
